Rupee weakens against dollar on Asian cues and ahead of likely US rate hike

Mumbai, March 3 -- The Indian rupee on Friday weakened against the US dollar, following losses in its Asian peers on the prospects of US Federal Reserve interest rate hike in its mid-March meeting.
The local currency opened at 66.88 a dollar. At 9.15am, the home currency was trading at 66.89-down 0.26% from its Friday close of 66.71.
Traders are cautious ahead of the US Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen and vice-chairperson Stanely Fischer's speech later in the day which may give cues on possible interest rate hike.
Sensex index rose 0.03% or 7.74 points to 28,847.53. So far this year, it has risen 8.1%.
The 10-year bond yield rose to 6.822% compared to its Thursday 's close of 6.845%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
So far this year, the rupee has gained 1.6%, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have bought $1.54 billion and $539.80 million from local equity and debt markets, respectively.
Asian currencies weakened. South Korean won was down 1.05%, Taiwan dollar 0.67%, Indonesian rupiah 0.27%, China renminbi 0.17%, Malaysian ringgit 0.16%, China Offshore 0.12%, Singapore dollar 0.11%.
However, Japanese yen was up 0.12%.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency's strength against major currencies, was trading at 102.08-down 0.12% from its previous close of 102.20.